If you’re a sports fan, you know that a brawl of sorts broke out between players of the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos when the Raiders’ Michael Crabtree and Aqib Talib of the Broncos got into a fight.
Well, Roger Goodell acted swiftly and decisively by suspending both players for two games. Yes folks, that’s the same Roger Goodell who did not and still does not act against NFL players who disrespect our flag and country.
Getting back to the suspension of Michael Crabtree, here’s what Dieter Kurtenbach of The Mercury News wrote:
“…the NFL just suspended one of their [Oakland] best players for two games for… what exactly?
Fighting?
That’s what the NFL said Monday, saying that Crabtree’s actions Sunday have “no place in this game” in a letter to the Raiders’ wide receiver.
Spare me the moral indignation, NFL, your full-contact sport is a few weapons shy of sanctioned murder.”
Why couldn’t Goodell suspend Colin Kaepernick who started the whole show of disrespect? Why couldn’t Goodell suspend the players who followed Kaepernick’s example? And why couldn’t Goodell suspend Olivier Vernon of the NY Giants who was the only player in the league to take the knee during a Thanksgiving Day game? Even Vernon’s lone disrespect on Thanksgiving couldn’t get any reaction from Goodell. But a fight sure did.
So now we know that the absence of fighting is much more important to the NFL than a show of patriotism.
The National Hockey League on the other hand allows its players to fight. Officials stop fights only after one player has downed the other one to the ice. Then both players will serve a 5-minute penalty. But when it comes to the National Anthem, the NHL puts the NFL to shame. There are only a handful of American players in the NHL. Most hockey players are from Canada and Europe. Yet when the Star Spangled Banner is played, all of the players stand, including the Russians. A native of Canada, coach John Tortorella of the Columbus Blue Jackets made it crystal clear when he said, “If any of my players sit on the bench for the national anthem, they will sit there the rest of the game.”
The NFL players kick the crap out of each other in every game but heaven forbid if two players engage in a little bit of fisticuffs. While fighting is strictly verboten, the same cannot be said for an outrageous display of disrespect to our flag and country.
